Equipment bays often consist of one or more shelves, each shelf having one or more circuit boards vertically aligned, for example. Typically, each circuit board (or other components within the equipment bay) require a connection to one or more optical or electrical fibres. Since the fibres may need to be serviced from time to time or because one fibre may have to be rerouted from one circuit board to another, it is usual to have from one to four meters of slack for each fibre. If there is a large number of fibres, a technique for managing the slack for all the fibres is desirable to allow easy access to any particular fibre, to avoid tangling and to maintain a minimum curvature of the fibres to avoid damaging the fibres.
However, since space is often at a premium around equipment bays, it is desirable to manage the slack to avoid tangles or bending of the fibres beyond a minimum curvature while, at the same time, allowing easy access to the fibres in a limited amount of space.
A number of devices are known which overcome some of the above-noted concerns. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,379, (inventor: Kutsch) which issued on Aug. 16, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,196 (inventor: Bylander) which issued on Apr. 25, 1989 both describe a series of trays for managing slack fibre. However, each tray described in the Kutsch patent only accommodates a single fibre and each tray in the Bylander patent only accommodates, at most, 12 fibres. For ease of fibre management, it is desirable to be able to see all the fibres in the storage panel at once. As well, the need for a potentially large number of trays in the Kutsch and Bylander patents creates the prospect of a complicated array of trays which could lead to significant logistical problems. Further, it seems unlikely that either of the Kutsch or Bylander devices could effectively accommodate from one to four meters of slack from a significant number of fibres.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,986 (inventor: Kakii) which issued on Dec. 7, 1993 and U.K. patent application 2,241,221 (inventor: Cloutman) which was published on Aug. 28, 1991, each describe devices for managing slack of a single fibre. These patents do not describe devices allowing for easy access to a potentially large number of fibres in a limited amount of space.